Border police chief fired

By John MacCormack :
March 5, 2013
: Updated: March 6, 2013 11:52pm

EAGLE PASS — In a move that came without warning and still is sending shock waves through this isolated border city, longtime Police Chief Antonio Castañeda was fired for reasons that remain officially undisclosed.

Since he was hired as chief almost 20 years ago, Castañeda, 61, had kept his good name while working for 10 city managers and surviving many an upheaval in a town where politics is a full-contact sport.

His dismissal Monday afternoon by interim City Manager Gloria Barrientos came just as the city is in the process of interviewing finalists, including Barrientos, for the city manager job.

The angry ex-chief says he was a victim of blind ambition.

“She sold her soul to the devil to get that job,” said Castañeda, adding that he plans to sue. “It's all politics. A couple of people want to control everything in this town.”

Barrientos, 41, who has worked for the city 17 years, declined to discuss the grounds for Castañeda's dismissal.

“Because he threatened litigation, I prefer not to go into any more facts,” she said.

While some members of the council were aware of the decision, she said she alone fired the chief.

City Attorney Eddie Morales said he advised council members to remain “tight-lipped” about the chief's dismissal, citing the possibility of a lawsuit.

At the police station, Lt. Aldo Escamilla, who worked for Castañeda for 15 years, said officers are clueless.

“When I learned of it, I was shocked,” he said.

Meanwhile, speculation about the abrupt move is running rampant.

Some wonder whether the chief stepped on the wrong toes when he investigated city employees who helped themselves to city gasoline. Others wonder if a close relationship with a local bail bondsman spelled his downfall.

His dismissal came shortly after Barrientos met with local bondsmen who complained about Rosy Cantu, owner of Cantu's Bail Bonds, getting the bulk of the bond business at the city jail.

“I received complaints about that. I met with them about Rosy,” Barrientos said, but she declined to say that had anything to do with the chief's sudden departure.

Connie Villarreal, owner of Aguila Bail Bonds, said she had complained for years about Cantu getting favorable treatment at the city police station, where Cantu's son and daughter work.

Cantu, whose husband, Martin, is first cousin to Mayor Ramsey English Cantu, said she doesn't get any breaks and had nothing to do with the chief's dramatic exit.

“I have an office right in front of the jail, and the other bondsmen don't like it,” she said.

Castañeda said he intends to fight for his job and is seeking a lawyer.

He said the four grounds Barrientos gave for firing him didn't include bail bond issues.

Instead, he said, they pertained to routine administrative issues, including the use of a substation; reassigning an officer with a health problem; giving another officer a day off as a reward for exceptional conduct; and questions about how a minor car accident involving police personnel was handled. jmaccormack@